AFL Invasion

[Hardy]

I couldn't agree more, Leo. The only possible justification I can see for the international series is if it comes with an agreement banning poaching by the Aussie clubs. If the AFL people want the international outlet enough, that could work. But a possible broken neck or worse for one of our players would be an unacceptable price to pay.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

If the players don't want to play in the Compromise Rules and are worried about safety etc they won't play and their won't be a series - They obviously want to play and a lot of them play over and over so they seem fine with it so why should we want it stopped???

Leo - The AFL look for guys who wouldn't be playing in the Series and will be at Minor matches etc so there is nothing we can do about it...except possibly use the Compromise Rules.

[Jinxy]

Look, from what I can see a lot of AFL fans have nothing but contempt for the GAA. To them, Ireland is just a cheap source of players so the less we have to do with them the better. The new rules for IR make us look like a bunch of complete wimps and I'm f*cked if I'm going to go and watch this shambles of a game again. Let them take a few players every year, so what. If young lads want to head off to Oz, the best of luck to them. I'd rather that than having to listen to some neanderthal with corks hanging off his hat tell me that Australia have just beaten Ireland at gaelic football.

[Leo]

If the players don't want to play in the Compromise Rules and are worried about safety etc they won't play and their won't be a series - They obviously want to play and a lot of them play over and over so they seem fine with it so why should we want it stopped???

Leo - The AFL look for guys who wouldn't be playing in the Series and will be at Minor matches etc so there is nothing we can do about it...except possibly use the Compromise Rules.

The players want it so it is good for the GAA? That might be alright in Cork but is no reason for continuing this charade. Most players I know like a couple of pints but that wouldnt justify making it an official GAA activity (or maybe it already is!). The players like the Railway Cup but everybody else has voted with their feet and said goodbye to it. The vast sums of Coac Cola money give oxygen to the aussie rules nonesense to our own game's detrimen and I suspect if Coca Cola weren't involved the powers that be would have lost interest a long time ago.

[INDIANA]

If the players want it then fine. But i haven't heard any of them recently claiming that- but if that's what they want then so be it. But for what its worth i think its a stupid bloody game best rendered to the dustbin. I have no desire to see hard working amateur players have their health put in danger by a bunch of Stupid Aussie planks who view the series as nothing more than a jolly up- and a chance to kick our players from one end of the field to the other. I'm really beginning to think Brennan hasn't a clue how to run this organisation.

[Zulu]

What I find amazing is that the GAA are even considering a rerun of the Aussie/International Rules fiasco that should have been well and truly buried for all sorts of reasons not the least of which is that we are providing an invite to the carpetbaggers to come right in and rip us off. Unbelievable stuff. What any of this does in the name of promoting the GAA has always defeated me. It is now a crisis.

I was always a fan of the IR though if it ends I'll lose little sleep. However I don't think it should be ended because it is a shop window for our best players, the aussies can come and target our players regardless of whether the IR continues or not. If anything restarting the IR series gives us a bargining chip, however insignificant.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Look, from what I can see a lot of AFL fans have nothing but contempt for the GAA. To them, Ireland is just a cheap source of players so the less we have to do with them the better. The new rules for IR make us look like a bunch of complete wimps and I'm f*cked if I'm going to go and watch this shambles of a game again. Let them take a few players every year, so what. If young lads want to head off to Oz, the best of luck to them. I'd rather that than having to listen to some neanderthal with corks hanging off his hat tell me that Australia have just beaten Ireland at gaelic football.

The same way the Irish have contempt for AFL etc.....Well to be honest some of our players are wimps....

The most embarassing thing from my point of view is that with 2/3 weeks training they can come over here and prove to be better at handpassing and kicking points with a Gaelic ball than our players - now that is embarrassing...

[Jinxy]

Handpassing is a skill that could be acquired with a decent afternoons training if you ask me. Anway, handpassing is a huge part of aussie rules. As for the kicking, they train to kick a ball for their forwards to catch (and get the mark). No point kicking an oval ball into space for a lad to run onto as the ball could go anywhere. A good pass in gaelic football isn't always aimed down the forwards throat. Likewise, a ball that bounces just before it reaches the forward is often easier to win than the ball which is aimed at his chest (allowing the defender to get the hand in). International rules is aussie rules with a round ball, not gaelic football with a tackle.

[Zulu]

Handpassing is a skill that could be acquired with a decent afternoons training if you ask me.

Jinxy the rest of your post is very valid but you are well off the mark with the above IMO. It is shocking how poor many lads are at handpassing.

[Tiger Craig]

Very very doubtful the IR series will start, and it is obvious the GAA don't want it to.

Very clever work by the GAA to have proposed rule changes which the AFL clubs (ie not the AFL) will no support. That way when the series is finally put to bed, the GAA can say "well we tried our best".

There is no way an AFL club will release a player to play in a game where they could be sent off for doing something that is legal in AFL, and be suspended from real AFL matches (ie what they are paid for, and where the clubs make their money). The clubs will also not want any restrictions on their recruiting activities.

[DUBSFORSAM1]

Handpassing is a skill that could be acquired with a decent afternoons training if you ask me. Anway, handpassing is a huge part of aussie rules. As for the kicking, they train to kick a ball for their forwards to catch (and get the mark). No point kicking an oval ball into space for a lad to run onto as the ball could go anywhere. A good pass in gaelic football isn't always aimed down the forwards throat. Likewise, a ball that bounces just before it reaches the forward is often easier to win than the ball which is aimed at his chest (allowing the defender to get the hand in). International rules is aussie rules with a round ball, not gaelic football with a tackle.

Jinxy - If handpassing is so easy how come you rarely see an Irish player able to handpass over 5 yards and off either hand? You kick the oval ball totally differently to a round ball as it is a straight legged kick rather than "an around the corner" kicking style as is used with the round ball......anyway their point scoring is practically as good as ours now so how do you explain that???

[AFS]

I see they're about to steal another one of the finest young prospects in the country...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7255939.stm

[J70]

I see they're about to steal another one of the finest young prospects in the country...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7255939.stm

What would you guys prefer?

That Aussie rules didn't exist and a young fella like this couldn't have the opportunity to pursue a career in professional sports?

Its not as if the game of gaelic football is going to die because a few lads decide to give Australia a go.

Or are the Aussies going to be starting expansion teams left, right and center filled with hundreds of Irish lads stolen away from gaelic football?

[Jinxy]

Handpassing is a skill that could be acquired with a decent afternoons training if you ask me.

Jinxy the rest of your post is very valid but you are well off the mark with the above IMO. It is shocking how poor many lads are at handpassing.

Ok, I was exaggerating. I still think handpassing the ball requires little or no skill and it drives me demented to see lads handpassing the ball over the bar from 20 yards out. If a fella is being coached half way properly and he still can't pass off both hands he may as well throw his hat at it.

[AFS]

I see they're about to steal another one of the finest young prospects in the country...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7255939.stm

What would you guys prefer?

That Aussie rules didn't exist and a young fella like this couldn't have the opportunity to pursue a career in professional sports?

Its not as if the game of gaelic football is going to die because a few lads decide to give Australia a go.

Or are the Aussies going to be starting expansion teams left, right and center filled with hundreds of Irish lads stolen away from gaelic football?

No, gaelic football is not going to die but the quality is going to be seriously diminished if the AFL continue to plunder each county's top young player every couple of years. If I was from Down i'd be seriously pissed cuz they've already lost what was probably going to be their flagship player for the next decade and now it seems that they're gonna lose their next best young fella.

I know purely in terms of numbers the drain is not really significant, but its the fact the they take the cream of the 17-20 age group each year. The AFL are taking our next generation of Maurice Fitzgeralds, Peter Canavans, Kieran McGeeneys, Pauric Joyces, Dara O'Sés, etc, etc. And what do we get in return???